Default kuma-cp leaks admin token cross-origin via CORS wildcard + LocalhostIsAdmin

Overview

Summary

Default kuma-cp config leaks the admin bootstrap token and signing keys to any webpage the operator visits while the control plane is reachable from their browser. CorsAllowedDomains: [".*"] reflects any Origin, and LocalhostIsAdmin: true promotes requests from 127.0.0.1 to mesh-system:admin. A cross-origin fetch() from a malicious page returns the admin JWT and signing material.

Am I affected?

You are affected if all of these hold:

1. kuma-cp runs with default config (CorsAllowedDomains: [".*"] and LocalhostIsAdmin: true).
2. The control plane is reachable from a browser on the same machine:
   • kuma-cp run on a developer laptop
   • Docker --network host or port-publish on a workstation
   • kubectl port-forward from a machine that also browses the web
3. The operator visits a page running attacker JavaScript while the control plane is reachable.

You are not affected if:

• The control plane runs on a Kubernetes cluster accessed via ClusterIP, NodePort, or LoadBalancer from a remote client.
• The control plane runs on an SSH-administered VM with no browser on the host.
• KUMA_API_SERVER_AUTHN_LOCALHOST_IS_ADMIN=false is set (see https://kuma.io/docs/latest/production/secure-deployment/api-server-auth/).
• KUMA_API_SERVER_CORS_ALLOWED_DOMAINS is set to an explicit allowlist that excludes attacker origins.

Mitigation

1. Set KUMA_API_SERVER_AUTHN_LOCALHOST_IS_ADMIN=false after retrieving the admin token.
2. Set KUMA_API_SERVER_CORS_ALLOWED_DOMAINS to an explicit allowlist, for example http://localhost:5681,http://127.0.0.1:5681.
3. Do not run kuma-cp on a machine where you browse untrusted sites.

Fix

Fixed in #16416, backported to all supported release branches (#16423, #16424, #16425, #16426, #16427).

Changes in patched versions:

• CorsAllowedDomains default changed from [".*"] to [] — CORS is now opt-in; set the env var explicitly if you need GUI access.
• LocalhostIsAdmin hardened: now requires direct loopback RemoteAddr and Host, and rejects requests carrying proxy-hop headers (X-Forwarded-For), cross-site fetch metadata (Sec-Fetch-Site), or a non-localhost Origin.

Upgrade to a patched version:

• 2.7.25
• 2.9.15
• 2.11.13
• 2.12.10
• 2.13.5

Credits

Reported by eldudareeno.

CVSS

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N = 5.1 Medium.

Affected packages

• github.com/kumahq/kuma < 2.7.25
• github.com/kumahq/kuma >= 2.9.0, < 2.9.15
• github.com/kumahq/kuma >= 2.11.0, < 2.11.13
• github.com/kumahq/kuma >= 2.12.0, < 2.12.10
• github.com/kumahq/kuma >= 2.13.0, < 2.13.5

Remediation

Upgrade to a patched release:

• github.com/kumahq/kuma 2.7.25
• github.com/kumahq/kuma 2.9.15
• github.com/kumahq/kuma 2.11.13
• github.com/kumahq/kuma 2.12.10
• github.com/kumahq/kuma 2.13.5